Montana Blue Ribbon

The Bighorn River, recently featured on the Drift, is one of my favorite blue ribbon rivers in the state to fish. The river sits right below the Yellowtail Damn and flows directly into the Yellowstone River making it fishable year round. I personally think the best time of year to fish the river is in February and March. The weather on the river is always unpredictable, and river is usually empty besides the few locals and die-hards. You can have days in February that are 55 degree and the sun is shining and then 2 hours later have it be 35 degrees and snowing. You have to be prepared for everything that time of year.

The river produces amazing nymph (stones, san juans, sow bugs, etc), dry (midges) and great streamer action in the middle of March. Unfortunately the river sits right in the middle of the Crow Indian Reservation so wade fishing is limited. The best way to access the best parts of the river are from a drift boat.

The river holds thousands of rainbows and brown in the 16” – 20” range. Every now and then might even land the 23”er. So if you are over by Fort Smith take a few day off and see what you can do.